Acetaldehyde and Anabuse Acetaldehyde, Also

Acetaldehyde and Anabuse

Acetaldehyde, also called ethanol, is an organic chemical compound. Its chemical formula is CH3CHO, oftentimes chemically abbreviated as MeCHO (ME= methyl). It is one of the more important aldehydes, occurring robustly in nature and man-made on a large scale. In nature, it occurs in coffee, bread, and ripe fruit; and in most plants is part of their normal metabolic processes. In humans, it is produces by the oxidation of ethylene and is part of the reasons humans get hangovers with too heavy alcohol consumption (Perry).

Commercially, the production of acetaldehyde is done through the Wacker process, a homogeneous extraction process that produces acetaldehyde by oxidizing ethylene:

Chapter 2 = Chapter 2 + 02 2 CH3CHO

In the human liver, the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase oxidizes ethanol into acetaldehyde, which then, through additional oxidation, becomes ascetic acid by acetaldehyde. In the brain, alcohol dehydrogenase has a minor role in the oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde Chemical Summary for Acetaldehyde). When acetaldehyde is injected in alcoholic protects, it binds to proteins to form DNA adducts that are often linked to organ (particularly the liver and pancreas) disease (Nakamura, et.al.).

Anabuse, or Disulfiram, blocks the reaction of alcohol to acetaldehyde to harmless acetic acid, increasing the amount of acetaldehyde in the blood 5 to 10 times. Since it is the acetaldehyde that tends to cause the overt symptoms of a hangover, having disulfiram in one's system produces a severe reaction to alcohol intake. It is also used in the treatment of Giardia, scabies, Trichomona vaginalis, and even some cancers. It has also been found to be effective in cocaine treatment since it prevents the breakdown of dopamine, the neurotransmitter that cocaine stimulates (Wright and Moore; Disulfiram). Disulfiram has a half-life of 60-120 hours, and has a chemical formula of C10H20N2S4. The compound was originally tested to provide a remedy for parasitic infections, but researchers testing the substance on themselves reported severe and negative symptoms after consuming alcohol (Ruiz, et.al. 477-8).